I had seriously considered taking Bud the Amaryllis with me on my road trip, but I had to pack for two seasons as it was, so I left him/her/it behind when I drove to Ohio last Friday. It was a very wise decision on several levels, not the least of which was the weather, which was 60º one day and 35º and windy the next.

Bud cooperated by not even thinking about opening while I was gone, which was good news for The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me. I left him with very specific directions for performing anther surgery, but I could tell he was relieved not to put his fine-motor skills to the test.

When I checked Bud after my return on Tuesday evening, the stalk-to-tip length had grown to 21.5 inches but the bud hadn’t started to open.

On Wednesday morning, there was a very slight separation at the tip, but I was doing laundry and catching up with the mail and didn’t have to arrange a photo session. At left is what Bud looked like yesterday morning (Thursday, March 25).

And below is what things looked like this morning. The wavy in the leaf just to the left of the bud is what happens when the leaf tries to crawl between the slats of the blind and the Head Gardener isn’t around to rotate the pot in time. I’m guessing the leaf will carry that kink for the rest of the season, but maybe it will grow out of it.